Marco Silva and Sam Allardyce not included in Everton’s choice

Everton are desperately in the search for a new manager with two of the leading candidates – Sam Allardyce and Marco Silva, now appearing to be out of the running.

Nearly a month ago, the Goodison Park club sacked Ronald Koeman and caretaker boss David Unsworth’s chances of remaining in charge until the end of the season continue to improve.

Over the weekend, any chance of Allardyce becoming the replacement for Ronald Koeman disappeared when the former England manager said he was no longer interested in the role.

On Sunday, a renewed contact between the two parties was made but Allardyce felt the contract on offer from the Merseyside club running only until the end of the season which was not enough to tempt him out of retirement.

On Monday morning, Everton made contact with Watford for a second time which included details of the compensation they were willing to pay, only to be told that Silva would not be allowed to talk to them and would be staying at Vicarage Road.

A spokesman for Watford said: “We will not countenance an approach for our manager, either from Everton or indeed any other club, be it in the Premier League or abroad.’’